On the 22/03/2017 London suffered its first, mass casualty, terror attack in 12 years. Like the majority of the world, we all sat, watching in horror as the events unfolded, worried for the victims, and grieved when the casualty figures came in.

For some though, the events were not tragic, they were an opportunity to further their own extremist agenda.

These are just some of the responses from the far right:

Britain First, within a few hours they had posted a Facebook event, a March Against Terrorism. No words of condolence for the victims, or their families, they just saw an opportunity to cause more problems in a city that will still be reeling from yesterdays events. More policing needed, at a time when the resources will be stretched already

And leader Paul Golding, quickly produced a propaganda video where he blamed everyone for the attacks, except himself and his groups culpability in creating a toxic atmosphere of ‘them and us’, an atmosphere that does more to recruit for Da’esh than Da’esh could ever manage.

We have intentionally not linked to the video, as Britain First have monetized their YouTube account.

Golding must have been devastated when he found out that Abu Izzadeen had been wrongly named and was still in prison.

Tommeh Robinson with his new BFF and videographer could not resist making it all about himself, and how he alone has been correct all these years.

He then just descended into rants, retweets and self promotion, yet, never once showed any empathy for the victims or their families.

LibertyGB just saw an opportunity to attack the London Mayor:

Nigel Farage:

He then used the event to appear on Fox News, promoting Trump’s travel ban:

And NO MENTION WHATSOEVER OF THE VICTIMS

The BNP, reproduced a picture doing the far right rounds of an obviously terrified woman in a hijab, walking past an horrific scene.

And yet somehow forgot to post a picture of a white guy doing exactly the same

Katy Hopkins was another who saw an opportunity to attack the London Mayor.

And another that used Fox News to further their agenda.

Sadly, we could go on and on here…David Duke posting pictures of the victims with their faces clearly visible, before the police had any chance to inform their relatives. Trump Jnr criticising the London Mayor (a recurring theme throughout social media).

The one thing they all have in common is a blatant disrespect for the victims and their families. To these people, and the random commentators on Facebook etc. the London attack was not a terrible tragedy, it was an opportunity. An opportunity to spread more division, more hate – to further their own extremist agendas. And of course, in many cases, to further line their own pockets

Thankfully, the community that has come under the most attack after the events reacted differently.

The Arabic word “jihad” is often translated as “holy war,” but in a purely linguistic sense, the word ” jihad” means struggling or striving.The arabic word for war is: “al-harb”.In a religious sense, as described by the Quran and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (s), “jihad” has many meanings. It can refer to internal as well as external efforts to be a good Muslims or believer, as well as working to inform people about the faith of Islam.If military jihad is required to protect the faith against others, it can be performed using anything from legal, diplomatic and economic to political means. If there is no peaceful alternative, Islam also allows the use of force, but there are strict rules of engagement. Innocents – such as women, children, or invalids – must never be harmed, and any peaceful overtures from the enemy must be accepted.Military action is therefore only one means of jihad, and is very rare. To highlight this point, the Prophet Mohammed told his followers returning from a military campaign: “This day we have returned from the minor jihad to the major jihad,” which he said meant returning from armed battle to the peaceful battle for self-control and betterment.In case military action appears necessary, not everyone can declare jihad. The religious military campaign has to be declared by a proper authority, advised by scholars, who say the religion and people are under threat and violence is imperative to defend them. The concept of “just war” is very important.The concept of jihad has been hijacked by many political and religious groups over the ages in a bid to justify various forms of violence. In most cases, Islamic splinter groups invoked jihad to fight against the established Islamic order. Scholars say this misuse of jihad contradicts Islam.Examples of sanctioned military jihad include the Muslims’ defensive battles against the Crusaders in medieval times, and before that some responses by Muslims against Byzantine and Persian attacks during the period of the early Islamic conquests.

WHAT JIHAD IS NOT:

Jihad is not a violent concept.Jihad is not a declaration of war against other religions. It is worth noting that the Quran specifically refers to Jews and Christians as “people of the book” who should be protected and respected. All three faiths worship the same God. Allah is just the Arabic word for God, and is used by Christian Arabs as well as Muslims.Military action in the name of Islam has not been common in the history of Islam. Scholars says most calls for violent jihad are not sanctioned by Islam.Warfare in the name of God is not unique to Islam. Other faiths throughout the world have waged wars with religious justifications.

You know how it is, a bit of time on your hands, and you decide to troll one of the largest UKIP supporters groups on Facebook. Peter Capaldi leaving Doctor Who was one of the biggest stories of the week. Who would be the new Doctor? We decided this lovely lady.

Seriously though, what is wrong with these people? Doctor Who is a show that celebrates multiculturalism. It is about not giving in to anger, hate or bigotry. It is about the British tradition of tolerance and acceptance.

The far right-wing blog ‘The Right Stuff’ creator has quit over the revelation that his wife is Jewish it was reported in the Jerusalem Post.

‘Mike Enoch’, was doxxed (the leaking of personal details online) as a certain Mike Peinovich, a website developer from New York. Peinovich was also co-host on the infamous Neo-Nazi podcast “The Daily Shoah” on which he regularly talked about killing Jews, deporting Muslims, people of African descent and other Neo-Nazi rhetoric.

Enoch (name invented in homage to Enoch Powell), has long been considered one of the three most influential figures in the “alt-right” (fascist) movement along with Daily Stormer creator Andrew Anglin and Richard Spencer – he of the infamous Nazi salute celebration of Trumps election win.

Peinovich’s personal details were released were earlier in the week by rival website 8chan, briefly working alongside antifascist activists

‘Enoch’ admitted that the information released about him was correct in a message in left on a private forum on the website The Right Stuff (released by the Salon).

“As I am sure you all know, I was doxxed and an ill advised attempt to fool the media about my identity led me to not talk to you people and to try to simply ride it out by being silent. This was irresponsible and a disservice to all of you. Yes my wife is who they say she is, I won’t even bother denying it, I won’t bother making excuses. If this makes you want to leave the movement, or to have nothing to do with TRS, then I understand. Don’t lie for me. Don’t try to defend me to those attacking me. Don’t jeopardize your own reputation by defending things that you don’t think you can. I could try to explain my whole life for the last ten years to you but what difference at this point would it make. Life isn’t perfect.”

He later resigned in disgrace from both the podcast and The Right Stuff.

It might seem obvious that extreme right-wing party Britain First is not a Christian group. Its scaremongering policies, widely considered to be racist, are hopefully not the first thing that spring to mind when you think of Christianity.

However, Britain First seems to think otherwise. The group recently held a “Christian Patrol” in Luton, during which members brandished wooden crosses and claimed to be defending “Christian values” while handing out anti-Islam newspapers to Muslims.

Although this “Christian Patrol” and others like it have only attracted marchers in their tens, a video of the Luton march has been viewed 21 million times on Facebook. Britain First is disrupting communities, harrassing Muslim neighbours and doing so in the name of a “Christian Britain”. It’s time we said: “not in my name.”

It may seem superfluous to defend the Christian faith from such a group, but its online popularity (the Britain First Facebook page has 1,280,406 likes – more than the Labour and Conservative Party pages combined), and a quick look at historical cases of the appropriation of Christianity by far-right groups (think the Nazis and the KKK) suggest otherwise.

Britain First is a far-right and British nationalist party that was formed in 2011, as a splinter group from the BNP. It fights against immigration, multiculturalism and what it describes as the “Islamisation” of the UK. On its Wikipedia page, the group is also described as having a “Christian” ideology.

Deputy leader Jayda Fransen has declared that the UK is heading for a “civil war” between those who hold “British values” and Islamists.

In the nine-minute clip of the Luton march, Fransen argues ferociously with a Muslim man, shouting “our country, not your country. It’s a Christian country.”

When challenged, she continues, saying: “You think you can take over a town and say ‘It’s your country, you’re taking over’… not for long, see this cross? It will prevail.”

Britain First has “corrupted the message of the cross, which for us is a symbol of reconciliation, forgiveness and selfless love,” Peter Adams, a member of Luton’s St Mary’s Church, told Luton Today.

He was among a group of local Christians and Muslims who stood together to hand out flowers in a show of unity following the march.

Britain First’s “method, their provocative actions, their carrying of white crosses, very angry [and] abusive words were not the message that the church in Luton had towards our Muslim neighbours”, Adams said.

It is difficult to equate the Jesus of the Bible with the message of Britain First. Scripture calls us to welcome the orphan and the alien, and that needs to be central to Christianity, particularly in this current climate.

Speaking to Christian Today in 2014, Paul Golding, leader of Britain First, said: “Jesus Christ did use physical violence according to the Gospels in the temple in Jerusalem, and he met a very violent end. He preached love and forgiveness etc, but he also said he didn’t come to bring peace; he came to bring division and a sword, he came to bring fire upon the world to sort the world out.”

But though Jesus did clear the Temple, to take this story out of context, manipulate it and use it to justify prejudice is not OK.

Although only a few people are showing up for these “Christian patrols” at the moment, Fransen claims that membership of Britain First is “swelling by the thousands”.

The group has planned another Christian Patrol, this time through Dewsbury, which Fransen described as having “Islamic extremists coming out of the woodwork”.

The deputy leader, who is of foreign descent herself, said that, “the indigenous people in Britain don’t want their own towns turned into Muslim ghettos. It doesn’t look like Britain any more.”

Tell Mama, a charity that monitors Islamophobia in the UK, shared the concern that “these inflammatory actions continue with Britain First trying to pain themselves as ‘defenders of Christian values’, something that they are far from”.

The fear is that people who are on the receiving end of this violent action, into whose communities Britain First storm brandishing white crosses, will begin to equate this hate-filled action with Christianity.

Nice to see that the Proscribe the ‘Political Party’ Britain First has nearly reached 10,000 signatures. Anyone wanting to sign can click here

Although many will not agree that Britain First need proscribing (basically banning), citing Free Speech as the reason, we all know that they do not allow free speech themselves and censor/ban any dissenting voices.

The Proscribe petition explains why it is so important that Britain First are banned:

Proscribe the ‘political party’ Britain First

Britain First are an extremist offshoot of the BNP. Via the internet and social media the group spews out anti Muslim propaganda in order to fulfill their goal of an ‘Holy War’ against the Muslim community in the UK.
The UK Government must proscribe this party before they achieve their aims.

Their founder, James Dowson as to why he set up Britain First:
“In an interview with Channel Four News, Dowson admitted to pursuing a “holy war” on the streets of Britain:
“One thing I agree with Mr Choudry on, there is such a concept as a just war, a holy war. He calls it Jihad. We call it a crusade,” he told Paraic O’Brien.
“Without any shadow of a doubt, this is a holy war.”